thunder

Etymology

From Middle English thunder, thonder, thundre, thonre, thunnere, þunre, from Old English þunor (“thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *þunr, from Proto-Germanic *þunraz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ten-, *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). Compare astound, astonish, stun. Germanic cognates include West Frisian tonger, Dutch donder, German Donner, Old Norse Þórr (English Thor), Danish torden, Norwegian Nynorsk tore. Other cognates include Persian تندر (tondar), Latin tonō, detonō, Ancient Greek στένω (sténō), στενάζω (stenázō), στόνος (stónos), Στέντωρ (Sténtōr), Irish torann, Welsh taran, Gaulish Taranis. Doublet of donner.

noun

1. The loud rumbling, cracking, or crashing sound caused by expansion of rapidly heated air around a lightning bolt.
   Thunder is preceded by lightning.
2. A deep, rumbling noise resembling thunder.
   Off in the distance, he heard the thunder of hoofbeats, signalling a stampede.
3. An alarming or startling threat or denunciation.
   The thunders of the Vatican could no longer strike into the heart of princes. 1847, William H. Prescott, A History of the Conquest of Peru
4. (obsolete) The discharge of electricity; a thunderbolt.
5. (figurative) The spotlight.
   Shortly after I announced my pregnancy, he stole my thunder with his news of landing his dream job.

verb

1. (impersonal) To produce thunder; to sound, rattle, or roar, as a discharge of atmospheric electricity.
   It thundered continuously.
2. (intransitive) To make a noise like thunder.
   The train thundered along the tracks.
3. (ergative) To (make something) move very fast (with loud noise).
   Senseless years thunder by / Millions are willing to give their lives for you / Does nothing live on? 1983, “Forbidden Colours”, in David Sylvian (lyrics), Ryuichi Sakamoto (music), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, performed by David Sylvian
4. (intransitive, transitive) To say (something) with a loud, threatening voice.
   "Get back to work at once!", he thundered.
5. To produce something with incredible power.
   Just as it appeared Arsenal had taken the sting out of the tie, Johnson produced a moment of outrageous quality, thundering a bullet of a left foot shot out of the blue and into the top left-hand corner of Wojciech Szczesny's net with the Pole grasping at thin air. January 19, 2011, Jonathan Stevenson, “Leeds 1 - 3 Arsenal”, in BBC